Busy doing nothing !

Not quite true in fact, but it looks as though I have been very quiet this week. In fact I have been doing a lot of background work on the EBU site, plus getting everything packed for the Charity Challenge Sims so the post office can pick it up this afternoon and get it all on its way. And I am still battling with getting the regulations for Shanghai ready for approval .
Mark has been doing some funky programming to make the sims stuff easier for me to use and I can't wait for that to be ready - he really is a star. And Emale has spent most of the week asleep on top of the radiator at the back of my desk (or in my bed when he thinks he can get away with it!)

It has been fun on the home front though ! We have been decorating our hall way, which runs the whole length of the station, and the carpet is now fitted and the new bookshelves delivered, and very nice they look too. Not only that but we have also had a lovely new sideboard in the dining room - solid oak and very heavy but it is great to have it and be able to store lots of bits and pieces at long last, instead of having them stashed in corners. Isn't it amazing how long it takes to get a place straight - we have been here for 12 years and we are still doing stuff !

The birds are all making spring type noises (did you know that people believed that birds chose their mates on 14 February ?!), and I have a couple of daffodils out which is ridiculously early.

And it is Friday which means I have the weekend to look forward to with my daughter and her husband coming over for dinner on Saturday which will be great.

Lovely white stuff !

It is snowing and I love it ! But I am lucky - living and working in a Railway station means I only have to walk across the platform to get to work :-) Here is a picture of our office in the snow ... pretty isn't it ! I am sure I could get the car out and get to the shops if I needed to, but it is much more fun to play at being completely snowed in and dig some chilli out of the freezer to have with baked potatoes tonight. The cats have reacted in different ways - Taggie, the old lady, is happily sitting outside and getting whiter. Phercad, who is quite barmy, dashes in and out in a breathless, wild-eyed fashion, gasping at the strangeness, and Emale, who just hates the cold (and the wind and the heat and almost any other weather conditions) is firmly ensconced behind my computer where the heat from the radiator comes up over my desk. He complains loud and long if it goes off, and will undoubtedly spend the day there. Click here to learn more about the cats if you are interested!

Anyway, that's not what I really wanted to tell you about today .. I have just been sending out information about the European Open Championships to be held in Antalya in June. And "open" in this case means anyone can play as long as they are approved by their own National Federation. It is being held at the World of Wonders resort and more information about the event itself, together with details of how to register, can be found on the EBL Website.

I have also been updating the pages about Shanghai and the World Championships in September - click here to see when the zonals are, which teams are going to play and even the first set of names! And don't forget - the World Transnational Teams is another Open event that everyone can play in provided they are approved by their Federation!

Now it is time to go and clear a bit of the platform area so I can feed the birds, then it is back to work on the EBU website which is my main "job of the day"